This invention relates to collective objects management systems in general, and in particular to an improved collective objects management system using object identification with digital addresses. More particularly, this invention relates to an improvement for a collective objects management system using object identification with digital addresses, the improvement pertaining to object data base management performed primarily within the object container in real time.
The term “collective objects management systems” is a term coined to denote systems for generally keeping track of items (“objects”) in a collection of items. For example, an automobile parts warehouse at any given time has a collection of vehicle parts (“objects”) in inventory. The kind and number of such parts varies every day, as parts are sold and new parts are received. In order to keep track of the number and kind of vehicle parts in inventory, some type of collective vehicle parts management system must be used. Similarly, in a semiconductor manufacturing operation, at any given time there is a collection of integrated circuits (“objects”) of one or more types located somewhere in the facility, which must be accounted for using a collective integrated circuits management system. In supermarkets, a collection of a large number of different types of items, such as meats, produce, canned goods and the like is usually in inventory, with the number and types of objects varying widely on a daily basis and thus requiring a complex objects management system. In business offices and some homes, file storage cabinets are typically used to store documents used for both business and personal activities. A typical file storage cabinet has several pull-out drawers each containing a relatively large number of file folders (“objects”), with each folder containing one or more documents. In order to enable the documents contained in the various files to be readily accessed and inventoried, some type of file management system is necessary.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,471,717 issued Jun. 25, 2013 for “Collective Objects Management System With Object Identification Using Addressable Decoder Units” discloses a system for managing objects distributed in an object location space. The disclosure of the '717 patent is hereby incorporated by reference. The '717 system comprises a container, such as a file drawer, having a plurality of mutually electrically isolated electrically conductive paths, at least one of which can receive address signals supplied by a source and specifying a sought object; a plurality of object receptacles positioned in the container, each of the plurality of object receptacles having                (a) a plurality of electrically conductive members, each of which is electrically coupled to a different one of the plurality of mutually electrically isolated electrically conductive paths;        (b) an address decoder circuit associated to an object in the receptacle, the address decoder circuit having a unique system address, the address decoder circuit further having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals in electrical contact with the plurality of electrically conductive members; and        (c) an indicator, such as a visible indicator (e.g., an LED) coupled to the address decoder circuit for activation whenever the address decoder circuit detects an address signal present on at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive members and representative of the unique system address.        
The '717 system further includes a source comprising an encoder for generating the address signals, the encoder having at least one input terminal for receiving object identification signals from a supply device, at least one output terminal coupled to each address decoder circuit of the plurality of object receptacles, and circuitry for generating a signal representative of the unique system address of the object specified by the object identification signals.
In a specific embodiment, the container comprises a file folder drawer; and each object receptacle comprises a file folder having a pair of support braces, with one of the support braces containing the plurality of electrically conductive members. In this embodiment, the address decoder circuit and the indicator of each of the object receptacles are carried by one of the two support braces of each file folder.
Preferably, each file folder has an upper margin, and each indicator is mounted to the corresponding file folder in a position extending above the upper margin so as to be noticeable when the file folder drawer is in an opened position.
The file folder drawer includes at least two electrically non-conductive support members on which different ones of the plurality of mutually electrically isolated electrically conductive paths are located. One of the support braces of each of the plurality of object receptacles comprises an elongate body structure formed from an electrically non-conductive material with a pair of opposite ends, each end having a downwardly opening cut-out channel provided with a pair of spring contacts secured to the elongate body structure, with each spring contact being electrically coupled to a different one of the plurality of electrically conductive members. Each end of the one of the support braces of the plurality of object receptacles is supported by a different one of the at least two electrically non-conductive support members when received in the file folder drawer.
The two laterally spaced electrically non-conductive support members of the file folder drawer each has a width, with the width of each electrically non-conductive support member being different from the other. Similarly, the width of the cut-out channel at one of the opposite ends of the elongate body structure of each of the file folders is different from the width of the cut-out channel at the other one of the opposite ends of the elongate body structure of each of the file folders so that a given file folder can only be removably secured to the two support members in one proper orientation with each of the spring contacts in mechanical and electrical contact with the appropriate one of the electrically conductive paths.
The file folder drawer has a front panel with an additional indicator mounted thereon; and the system further includes circuitry for operating the additional indicator whenever an address decoder circuit located in the file folder drawer detects an address signal present on the at least one of the plurality, of electrically conductive members and representative of the unique system address of that address decoder.
Each address decoder circuit includes circuitry for generating a VALID signal whenever that address decoder circuit detects an address signal present on the at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive members and representative of the unique system address of that address decoder circuit.
A cabinet microcontroller supplies power signals to the plurality of object receptacles via some of the electrically conductive paths, and address signals via the at least one of the electrically conductive paths; and receives VALID signals generated by each address decoder circuit when an incoming address matches a given address decoder circuit system address. The microcontroller also includes circuitry for generating information signals identifying the location in the system of any address decoder circuit which generates a VALID signal.
The '717 technique provides objects management capability for objects distributed in an object location space which is superior to older, manual techniques implemented in the past. For example, to conduct a survey of all objects currently located somewhere in the system a host computer sends a polling inquiry to each cabinet microcontroller in the system. In the '717 system, the polling inquiry identifies a specific object receptacle by a system address and each cabinet microcontroller converts this system address to a local object receptacle address using the cabinet encoder, which presents this local object address to all object receptacles in that cabinet. If an address match occurs, a VALID signal is received by the cabinet microcontroller which composes and sends a message to the host computer confirming that the specified object receptacle has been located and specifying the cabinet and drawer location. The host computer next issues another polling inquiry identifying a different specific object receptacle, each cabinet microcontroller converts this system address to a local object receptacle address using the cabinet encoder, which presents this local object address to all object receptacles in that cabinet. If an address match occurs, a VALID signal is received by the cabinet microcontroller which composes and sends a message to the host computer confirming that the specified object receptacle has been located and specifying the cabinet and drawer location. This polling process continues until all system addresses have been processed. In the absence of any response to a given system address, the host computer will update its data base to note that an object receptacle is missing from the system. This polling technique greatly simplifies object data base management, particularly with data bases having relatively large numbers of different objects located in spatially distributed containers.
While greatly superior to the older manual process for conducting a survey of all objects in a given system, the '717 polling technique suffers from the disadvantage that, after generating a given polling inquiry system address, the host computer must wait for a response from all of the cabinet microcontrollers before generating the next polling inquiry system address. This serial polling technique unnecessarily prolongs the polling process, during which the normal object search function must be deferred until the polling process is completed or deliberately interrupted.